Always Right Behind Her
by Lucretia Boresya
Summary: this is a bit different from my usual, but i think its still good ^-^ its the story of a boy and his obsession, where it began, and where it ended. man, what a stoopid summary. r&r please^v^
1. Beginning

****** ARG, so many stories I start, but I haven't finished a one yet... arg, stoopid me *bangs head on desk* bad Tano, bad Tano! Tano is sorry sirs (and whatever else may apply, though Tano calls EVERYONE sir... she's crazy, you know...) but Tano will try to finish her other stories, as well as this one. And perhaps one day Tano will be able to change out of this pillowcase and take a real nap. That would be nice.******  
  
****** This is a weird thing for me to be writing, seeing as all of my other stories have been H/A... I think the Triptofan (sp? Tryptofan? Tryptophan? Triptophan? whatever...) is affecting my brain. Stoopid Turkeys, and believe me, they are STOOPID. anyhoo, i guess you can call it H/B, though Im not sure how it's gonna turn out heh, you'll jest have to keep reading to find out, woncha?******  
  
****** Hope Ya'll like it! Read on!******  
  
Always Right Behind Her  
  
by That Sock in the Fridge, f.k.a Tanochan, Tano for short  
  
****** disclaimer- I own Hey Arnold! :P hahahahaha, I own the adorable footballhead, the crazy girl with the pink bow, the odd wheezy kid who's always following her around as she follows the footballhead! I own the crazy kid with the thick glasses who lacks all sanity, the stuck-up rich girl he's always sniffing, I OWN EVERYTHING!!!!!!! Yer all jest jealous cuz YOU DONT! hahahahahahahahaha *gets knocked out by a large balogna sandwich and carried back to the asylum* Man in white coat: sorry folks, we don't know how she got out again. She really doesn't own anything, so don't worry! *wakes up* BUT I DOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! *is knocked out with the sandwich again*******  
  
  
  
He wasn't sure why but he'd always had a crush on her.  
  
On whom? Helga Geraldine Pataki (only he knew what the G. stood for), of course. You know the 10 year old, fourth grade bully of P.S. 118. Don't tell me you've never seen her around before. Well, for those of you who haven't she may come as a bit of a shock.  
  
At first glance you wouldn't know Helga was a bully. With her blonde hair, blue eyes, and all that pinkness-pink dress and a pink bow- you might mistake her for a goody-two-shoes. Get a closer look and there was no confusion. Helga was Helga. She ruled over all (except maybe the 5th and 6th graders) with an iron fist, nobody got in her way. If they ever did they'd have to talk to Old Betsy about it, and NOBODY messed with Old Betsy (except a few very stupid people, but we wont mention any names right now...).  
  
He had gotten in the way of Helga and Old Betsy many times since the day they had met, many broken glasses, bloody noses and trips to the nurse. It was routine now. Besides, it was probably his fault in the first place.  
  
What's that? Who is Old Betsy? Sheesh, where have you been? Old Betsy was the iron fist that Helga ruled with. No one is sure how she came up with that name (it is said her other fist is named The Five Avengers), but that's what it was called.  
  
Do you know who I'm talking about now? If not, you're dumber than she thought. Everyone knows who Helga is, especially the lower grades here at P.S. 118. Helga, on the other hand, most likely doesn't know who you are, but she thinks you're stupid and most of the time she's right. Is she correct in her assumption this time? Well, if you don't want her to be right, then you better wise up.  
  
Anyway, the story isn't just about Helga. Don't get the wrong idea, she's a very important part but technically she isn't the main character here. He is.  
  
Who is he? Have you ever seen a boy, about 10 years old, pale, kind of wheezy with glasses and pale spiky hair? Yellow sweater, brown shoes? Chances are you haven't. Not many people notice him, few know his name. Those who have heard of him or know him call him Brainy. Ding dong? Any of this ring a bell? No? Well, anyways, this story is about him. Yeah and Helga, this story is about Helga too.  
  
Hey, you didn't know that someone liked Helga? Well, Brainy did. If you watched Helga a little more carefully, you may have seen her talking to herself. Soon afterwards you would see Brainy pop up out of nowhere and BAM! He would be on the ground, glasses crushed. It would seem a bit disturbing to you at first, but you would get used to it.  
  
Now I know what you're thinking. How can this boy love a girl like Helga so much when all she ever does is punch his lights out every day? Good question. Maybe if you knew a little about their lives you would find your answer to that and any other questions you might have.  
  
The first day of preschool wasn't the first time Brainy and Helga had crossed paths.  
  
When he was younger, Brainy's parents would work most of the time. They left him with a baby-sitter for the entire day during the summer and on weekends, and with his grandparents during the week. The baby-sitter was a thirteen year old girl. Blonde hair, blue eyes, very nice. Though she was young, she was well known for her intelligence and responsibility and his parents were more than happy to pay her the $3 an hour fee she asked to watch him, in comparison to the $50 daily his grandparents insisted on. He had liked his baby-sitter. She played with him and noticed him, which were two things his family rarely did. But much more than he liked being noticed, he liked the other child that the girl watched.  
  
His baby-sitter watched another toddler. A girl, she was about 9 months younger but she was taller than he. She was blonde like her sister and they shared the same blue eyes, although he thought the younger girl's eyes were much prettier. The first day he met Olga Pataki's baby sister, he knew there was something special about her.  
  
His parents dropped him off the first day, early. June 21st, his 3rd birthday.  
  
"Here are his toys, his inhaler, a change of clothes in case, oh and it's his birthday today, here's $20. Go and do something special with him if you can." His mother handed Olga a big bag and pulled a $20 bill out of her purse, and then looked down at him, "Good-bye dear, have fun with the nice baby-sitter, Daddy and I will be home later."  
  
Olga smiled the flustered woman, "Don't worry, Mrs. Reid, we'll have fun." she knelt down beside him, "Won't we?"  
  
Beep! Beep! Beep!  
  
"Yes, well, we really must be going." his mother patted him on the head and ran out to the car where his father was waiting very impatiently.  
  
Olga picked him up and waved at his parents as the drove off, "Say good-bye, Brainy." she said.  
  
He was confused. Where were Mommy and Daddy going? Nevertheless, too shy to ask the young teen what was going on, he waved good-bye to Mommy and Daddy.  
  
After his parents were out of sight, Olga put him down and led him inside of the house, carrying the large bag his mother had given her. She set it down beside the door and turned to him again.  
  
"Now, what shall we do?" she said, mostly to herself, "Oh! I know, you must meet my baby sister!" she picked Brainy up and carried him up the stairs. They went into a dark room. Olga turned on the light, and he saw HER.  
  
She turned in her sleep, curled up in the faded pink blanket that was the only other thing in the crib with her. He had never seen another child about his age, especially not a girl, and he thought she was the most beautiful thing in existence. If he had known what angels were, he would have thought her to be one, but having only just turned 3 he didn't know very much. He wanted to touch her, to feel the beautiful being that lay in a crib like a normal child, so that he would know if she was real.  
  
"Helga," Olga whispered, "Baby Sister, wake up... we have a friend for you."  
  
No! She was going to awaken! She was so sweet and perfect as she lay asleep, why ruin a good thing by waking her up? If she stayed asleep, she wouldn't be able to leave him like his Mommy and Daddy had.  
  
The small girl stretched and yawned, and opened her eyes. She looked up at Olga and Brainy in confusion and innocence.  
  
"Yay, you're awake!" Olga cheered and set Brainy down on the floor beside the crib.  
  
No! He did not want to be on the floor, he wanted to be up there, in the crib with the little girl, Helga. As he tried to climb up into the crib, Olga dressed her baby sister in little pink overalls and brushed her hair, putting it into two little blonde pigtails on either side of her head and finished the look off with a pink ribbon tied in a bow.  
  
"There, all ready to play." Olga said, satisfied with how she had gotten the two-year-old ready. She picked Helga up out of the crib and set her down on the floor.  
  
Helga looked at Brainy, who was hanging on the side of the crib, trying desperately to climb into it. She tapped the little boy on the shoulder, and he fell off, landing on his well-padded bottom (although he was three on that day, he still was not completely potty-trained). Helga giggled and put her hand out to the boy, offering to help him up.  
  
He looked at her hand, then up at her face, then at the crib from which he had fallen. Then started over again: hand, Helga, crib... until she finally pulled him up with all the strength a two-year-old could have and he found himself staring into those big blue eyes.  
  
He never said much anyway, but even if he had been much of a talker, he wouldn't have been able to speak.  
  
Helga, on the other hand, was a big talker. She had no problems speaking her mind except for times where she lacked the vocabulary to express herself, and she had a slight speech impediment where she would turn "R's" to "W's" and visa versa.  
  
"Who are you?" she asked him, and he responded with silence, his mouth hanging open. He began to wheeze softly, a sign that he was nervous.  
  
How he wished he could say something to her! But the words could not, would not come out. He was tongue-tied, lost in thought.  
  
"Hewwo?" Helga waved a pudgy little hand in his face, "What is your name?"  
  
He couldn't say it! He had never wanted to talk before and now it was so necessary but he couldn't! He could only stare.  
  
Helga decided that Brainy wasn't going to say anything, so she continued to speak, "My name is Helga," she said, "I am..." she looked down at her hand, "Dis many yeaws owd." she held up three fingers, "Two!"  
  
Brainy, unable to count himself, was quite impressed with the younger child's abilities.  
  
q  
  
"How many are you?"  
  
He didn't know.  
  
Olga had by now returned from the bathroom, and Helga, frustrated with Brainy's silence, ran to her older sister, "Owga!" she whined and tugged on the hem of the bigger girl's skirt, "Why wont he say anything? Doesn't he wike me?" she pointed accusingly at Brainy, who wanted to cry.  
  
Olga knelt down in front of Helga and hugged her, "I'm sure Brainy likes you, Baby Sister," she assured her, "It's just... he can't speak very well... Actually, his Mommy says he doesn't talk at all. Brainy is a bit of a slow learner, Helga, we need to be patient with him. Maybe then he'll talk to us."  
  
Slow. That was what his Mommy and Daddy and everyone else called him. Just because he didn't talk, or run around like all the other children his age. That was where the nickname came into play. They called him Brainy, something like an ironic joke because that was what they thought he wasn't. And the name had stuck, his parents even called him that, laughed at it as if it really were a joke.  
  
But Brainy wasn't stupid. He understood, and he knew that they were wrong. He didn't talk, not because he was stupid or "slow" but because he didn't have any reason to, and didn't want to. Until he met Helga, that is. It was too bad that he couldn't explain himself, he had so much to say.  
  
"Oh." Helga said with a pensive glance in Brainy's direction.  
  
At this, Brainy looked down. He didn't want to see the look of pity she most likely was wearing. He looked at the tiny shoes on his feet instead. They were white and blue, blue like her eyes. They didn't help at all.  
  
******Aww.. I thought that was kinda cute... doncha just wanna hug Brainy? Such a cutey he is... *huggles Brainy* there there, i love you sweety...******  
  
****** K, well, I would do more but it's getting late and I wanted to get some of this up before it turned tomorrow, know what I mean? No? Eh, well, Review please!******  
  
******Do you like it? I mean, really, do you? I kinda like my idea, I don't think anyone's really done it before... but maybe they have... this is like, the second idea that I've come up with that I haven't read somewhere else ^.^ heh... so please lemme know if I did it right, if you like it, if I should continue (most likely I will even if you don't like it, lool)******  
  
******Wow, this is the longest first chapper I've done that wasn't mostly babble... I am... in awe... O.O******  
  
****** REVIEW BEFORE I CATCH THE PLAGUE OR SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!! COME ON!!!!!!! IM DYING HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!****** 


	2. Crazy Kids

******SO SORRY FOLKS! i dunno what was wrong with me earlier, i was pissed and sorta depressed, i think it was the lack of slurpee... anyhoo, im going to continue this story, im glad somebody out there likes it. im gonna say what ive said in my reviews of my own story: SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY!!!!!!!! I am an idiot! SO SORRY! really i am. I wont stop writing it, i was just pissed off, i mean, how does anyone have the right to say such things? Don't I have the right to be angry? I admit, was being a bit immature... ugh, i wont stop, don worry...******  
  
****** Yeah, and by da way, i don take anonymous reviews anymore, that way, if someone wants to insult me or my writing, i'll know who they are AND COME AFTER EM! nah, im too lazy, but at least ill know who they are...******  
  
******I promise as soon as i have my slurpee i will be back to my hyper loca self, till then i will try but i aint promising anything...******  
  
*******Thankees to:  
  
******Angel Beech- love your name, heh, yer a bit odd as well ^v^, glad you like it, and youre right... ******  
  
******joe mama- thanks, ya I know, i was jest a bit messed up earlier, won't happen again******  
  
******Miss Matched- one of my faves, yes you are absolutely right, i am sorry for being stoopid, im glad you like it, i tried and that's all i can do, right?******  
  
******HazelIris- ok, ok, I'll continue, please don die on me... -_-' and you too are right, I shall ignore idiots (but i can't ignore me, or how will i get anything done? -.-)******  
  
******Snow Lane- heh, you realize you've just insulted a lot of ppl, right? heh, but thanks, I will continue, we wouldn't want you to get bored ^v^******  
  
******Alien Crustacean- you too are very wise, thank you******  
  
******Chicken Goddess- yep, yep, yep, i think what also got to me was that it was my first review for this story, i hadnt gotten any good ones yet... if im gonna get a flame, i would at least like it to be funny, you know? anyhoo, thanks.******  
  
******Peacemaker Aqua- thank you, i realise i was being a bit stoopid here, i promise i wont do that again.******  
  
******mo with an e- please please please, shut the heck up before i whack you with a large spork (she's my sis, ill threaten her if i want :P) ******  
  
****** THANKEES TO EVERYONE ELSE, I AM SORRY FOR MY STOOPIDITY!!!!!! YOU ARE ALL VERY KIND AND WISE, I AM NOT, BUT I HAVE LEARNED FROM MY MISTAKES, SO ON WITH THE SHOW!!!!!!******  
  
Always Right Behind Her, Ch 2  
  
******disclaimer- I love Chinese food. I could LIVE on Sweet and Sour and Sechuan (sp.?) Chicken. Oh, and don't forget the Wonton soup... mmm... Wonton (mind you, it's not wanton, i said Wonton instead of wanton while reading Shakespeare aloud when i was 8 years old and my dad laughed at me... not to mention i was tongue-tied for a week, lool, so it's Wonton soup, not wanton soup. moral: 8 year olds shouldn't read Shakespeare... though i did like The Tempest for some odd reason...)... *drools* Oh ya, I don't own anything, cuz if i did, i would OWN CHINESE FOOD! *cackles and jumps into a pool filled with sweet and sour sauce* ******  
  
Olga took them to the park that afternoon, after lunch. Helga held Brainy's hand and led the way.  
  
Brainy had never been to the park before, but since Helga was excited about going, he decided that it couldn't be all bad.  
  
"You like the park, Bwainy?" Helga asked him as they walked.  
  
He shrugged slightly.  
  
"The park is fun!" Helga told him, "Thewe's odder kids to pway wif, and thewe's the swide, and the swing, and the sand box!"  
  
He nodded as she told him about the kids and all the things she had done at the park. He had never heard of such things, and was quite curious as to what a swing was.  
  
"Hee we are!" Helga said when they got to the park.  
  
He looked around. There was a lot strange things there. Some children were going down a big piece of metal that was at an angle, some kids sat in a pile of dirt making big piles of the stuff and decorating them with leaves, some were spinning around and around on a big metal wheel, some were even flying back and forth through the air. It looked kind of dangerous and scary to Brainy, but he noticed that most of the children were laughing and seemed to be very happy.  
  
Olga sat on a bench, "Now, be careful, and Helga help Brainy and show him around, ok?"  
  
Helga nodded.  
  
"Good, now I'll be right here watching." she pointed to the bench she was sitting on, "Come to me if you need anything, ok?"  
  
Helga and Brainy nodded.  
  
Olga grinned, "All right! So, go! Have fun!" she clapped her hands together.  
  
Helga laughed and pulled Brainy over to the playground where the other children were.  
  
First they came to the box of dirt, where three boys were sitting. One, who looked older than the rest, was eating the dirt. The others were two strange little boys, one with a big nose and a backwards hat, and the other one was taller and had pointy ears.  
  
They looked at Helga and Brainy.  
  
"Who's he, Helga, your boyfriend?" the one who was eating the dirt said.  
  
Helga frowned, "No, he's not my boyfwiend, he's Bwainy." she said. She turned to Brainy and whispered, "That's Hawold, he thinks he so gweat just cuz he's 5, but he's weawy stupid."  
  
Brainy giggled at her comment.  
  
"Brainy, what kind of a name is that?" the littlest boy with the nose asked.  
  
"A good one!" Helga told him, "It's bettew den SID."  
  
"I have a good name!" Sid began to cry.  
  
Helga whispered to Brainy again, "That's Sid, he's two, wike me, but he's just a baby."  
  
"Why you made Sid cry?" the taller boy asked.  
  
"Cuz." Helga said.  
  
"Oh." the boy shrugged and went back to his little pile of dirt.  
  
"That's Stinky," Helga whispered, "His name is that cuz he is. He pwetty stupid too. He's thwee."  
  
Brainy tried not to laugh too hard.  
  
"This is the sandbox." Helga pointed at it, "That's the box," she tapped a side of the wooden box, "And this is the sand." she said as she showed him a handful of dirt.  
  
Brainy sneezed, and Helga giggled, "No, you don't bweave the sand, you sit in it and let it get down your pants!"  
  
Oh, so that's what "sand" was for. To make you uncomfortable. Maybe it was for when you were bad.  
  
Helga led him to the big spinning metal thing. It stopped and two girls wobbled off of it and fell to the ground in a heap.  
  
"Rhonda!" a woman with black hair picked up the girl that resembled her, "I told you, you can't get that dress dirty!" she carried the little girl over to the bench and made her sit there. The woman then went back to filing her nails as she talked on her cell phone, "Yes, yes, I'm at the park. I know, dreadful place really... yes, but her usual nanny is out today... I know... yes, but according to her Rhonda needs to get some exercise... we wouldn't want her to end up...oh I know...."  
  
Helga pointed to the little girl who sat and watched longingly as the other children played, "That's Wonda." she told Brainy, "She gots... um... awot of dough... i think that's what my Daddy caws it. She's thwee and she's not weawy sposeda pway wif us... but sometimes Sheena," Helga pointed to a little girl, with brown hair who was picking dandelions, "Sheena's aunt watches Wonda sometimes, and then she pways wif us." she lowered her voice a bit, "But Wonda's not vewy nice, so we don't wike it when Sheena's aunt is hewe."  
  
Brainy looked at Rhonda and indeed, he felt a bit sorry for the little girl with a lot of dough.  
  
The other little girl who had been playing with Rhonda sat up and looked around, still dizzy from her spinning.  
  
"That's Nadine." Helga said, "She's Wonda's fwiend. I dunno how many she is."  
  
It seemed that Nadine wasn't too much of a friend. When she couldn't find Rhonda, she began to chase after a passing butterfly.  
  
Helga pointed at the spinning metal wheel thing that Nadine and Rhonda and fallen off of, "That's the spinny thing." she said.  
  
Ah, of course, it made so much sense.  
  
Next, Helga took Brainy to the big metal thing that some children where going down.  
  
"That's the swide." she explained, "You go up on the bla- ladder, and den you swide down the slipel-slippewy side and land on your butt." she saw Brainy's confusion, "Yeah, I dunno why it's fun either."  
  
Brainy watched with interest as a little boy slid down. He was different from the other children, he had a wide head and blonde hair that stuck up all over. He also wore a little blue cap that didn't really fit him.  
  
Helga looked over where Brainy was looking, "Huh? I dunno who that kid is... he's weiwd." she said and dragged Brainy to another part of the playground.  
  
"And this is the swing." Helga pointed to the place where people flew through the air.  
  
That was the swing? It didn't look very fun.  
  
A small girl with short black hair and big Cat's Eye glasses sat in one of the swings, slowly rocking back and forth. She saw Helga and Brainy and smiled.  
  
"Hi Pheobes." Helga greeted her, "Bwainy, this is Phoebe." she introduced her best friend to her new one.  
  
"Salutations, Brainy." Phoebe said softly. For a two year old she had an extensive vocabulary. ******i know a kid like this -.-"******  
  
Brainy simply nodded in reply.  
  
Phoebe and Helga began to whisper among themselves and Brainy felt a bit left out. Once again he wished that he could talk to Helga, he wished he was the one whispering and telling her things she didn't know. But Helga knew everything anyway, didn't she?  
  
Brainy's thoughts were interrupted by insane giggles. He looked to the swing beside Phoebe and saw a strange little boy with thick glasses and a bowl haircut, spinning in circles and tangling the chains as he laughed madly.  
  
Helga and Phoebe looked at the maniac three year old beside them, and Helga rolled her eyes, "Don't wowwy, Bwainy," she told him, "That's just Curly, he's cwazy."  
  
Oh, ok, no need to panic, you're just standing beside a psycho.  
  
Curly then jumped a couple feet in the air from the swing, and landed gracefully on the ground, "Plie(sp.?)!" he said and then ran away giggling hysterically.  
  
Brainy wasn't sure whether he should laugh or run over to Olga and hide under the bench. He looked around to see what else was going on. He wanted to know everything.  
  
Over by a tree, a small family was having a picnic. A dark little boy was playing catch with his father, and amazingly caught the football a couple of times.  
  
Brainy tapped Helga on the shoulder and pointed to the little boy.  
  
Helga looked, "Oh, that's... um... Gewald?" she said, uncertain. She looked at Phoebe who nodded, "Yeah that's Gewald." Helga said.  
  
Brainy then saw another little boy. He was laughing happily as he played on a big metal thing with his dad. Up, and down, up and down, until he fell off.  
  
"Are you ok??" His father, a nerdy looking man, asked as he picked his 2 year old son up.  
  
"That's Eugene." Helga explained, "He faws down awot. Oh, and the thing he fell off of was the teetew totter."  
  
Ok, there where a lot of strange children at the park.  
  
"Brainy, Helga, it's 1:30!" Olga ran up to them, "We need to get going so we'll have time to do something..." she whispered in Helga's ear, "For Brainy's birthday."  
  
"Yeah!" Helga got excited.  
  
"Shh, we musn't tell Brainy, it needs to be a surprise." Olga shushed her.  
  
They left the park, and Brainy wasn't at all sad to have not had a chance to "play".  
  
******Ack, my sis just made me realise something!!!!!! Olga would have to be 14 for this to work! cuz when Helga was three, Olga was 15 being "Class Valedictorian at 15" that she was. arg... just pretend that neva happened.******  
  
******well, im gonna get a third chapper up as soon as possible.. tomorries da last day of Break *sigh* oh wells ****** 


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